The present invention relates to semiconductor devices and, more particularly, to semiconductor devices that include a metal silicide pattern and to related methods of forming such semiconductor devices.
Most semiconductor devices include one or more switching devices such as one or more MOS transistors. As semiconductor devices become more highly integrated, the dimensions of these MOS transistors (or other switching devices) is scaled down. As the channel length of a MOS transistor is reduced, a “short channel” effect can occur, which can degrade the performance of the transistor. With increasing integration, the depth of the source/drain regions of MOS transistors may also be reduced, which may result in an increase in the sheet resistance of the source/drain regions. In order to reduce the sheet resistance, an ion implantation process may be performed before metal contacts are formed on the source/drain regions. However, this ion implantation process can deteriorate certain characteristics of the MOS transistor. By way of example, the ion implantation process can act to increase the short channel effect due to the implanted dopants.